Viola Deines was born on May 27, 1920, on a farm in Rooks County Kansas to John and Emma (Aust) Hoffman. She had four siblings, Anna, Frieda, Fredrick (Fritz) and Wahnetta. She passed away Thursday, February 5, 2015 at Trego County Lemke Memorial Hospital, in WaKeeney.

Viola spent the majority of her youth living with her family in Ogallah, KS. As young girls, Viola and Anna took turns helping their mother run a telephone office out of their living room. During the depression, the entire family had to work to help bring in extra income. She graduated from Ellis High School in 1939, and then went to beauty school in Salina for nine months. After receiving her license, she worked for a couple of years, first in Stockton and then WaKeeney.

Viola married Henry on November 16, 1941, at St. John's Lutheran Church in Ellis. It wasn't long after this that Henry went into the Army, and Viola traveled with him to bases in Cheyenne, Mississippi and Montana until he went overseas. She worked at the Army Air Base in Walker while he was gone for two years. Henry came home in 1946, and the couple built their first home and started their family. Viola was first and foremost a homemaker, but she also worked part time for many years for Raleigh Low, helping to process tax returns during the filing season.

Viola and Henry were avid dancers throughout their marriage, and together they shared a love of music, including attending their daughters' many concerts. She loved to socialize with family and friends; she and her longtime neighbor and friend, Hazel Low, spent at least a couple of decades having coffee together each afternoon at each other's homes. Viola loved to sew and made most of her daughters' clothes when they were growing up. She also enjoyed playing bridge, writing letters, taking care of flowers and plants, and had a great love of children and birds. She was a member of the American Legion Auxiliary, Hospital Auxiliary, Women's Golf Association, and Bethlehem Lutheran Church.

After a long and rich life, Viola expressed that: "My family was my greatest love and joy and blessing."

Survivors include her three daughters, Jan Clark and husband, Mike, Halstead, KS; Jill Deines, Sycamore, IL; Judy Deines and husband, Chris Landes, Lee's Summit, MO; one sister, Wahnetta Mills, Ellis, KS; four grandchildren, Nathan Hudon and wife, Jackie, Rebecca Galloza and husband, Dan, Patrick Clark and wife, Shanna, Jonathan Clark; and nine great-grandchildren, Dean, Ella, Leah, Owen and Ryan Clark, Leo and Nathan Junior Hudon, and Charlotte and Evelyn Galloza.

Viola's husband, Henry, preceded her in death on May 12, 2010. Her parents and three siblings, Frieda Hoffman, Anna Fries and Fredrick (Fritz) Hoffman, also preceded her in death.
Services will be at 10:30 a.m., Tuesday, February 10, 2015 at Bethlehem Lutheran Church, WaKeeney. Burial will be in the Kansas Veterans' Cemetery, Wakeeney.

Visitation will be Monday, from 5:00 to 7:00 p.m., at the funeral home in WaKeeney.

Memorials are suggested to Trego Hospital Endowment Foundation. Checks made to the organization may be sent in care of Schmitt Funeral Home, 336 North 12th, WaKeeney, KS 67672.

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